STEAG

Steag Iqony Group, Essen/Germany, has completed the sale of its 51 % stake in Turkish power plant company Isken to Oyak, its long-standing 49 % partner. Steag Iqony Group focuses on executing its growth strategy in its German core market. At the same time, the power plant will remain in experienced hands.

Since 2003, the Isken power plant company has operated the 1,360 MW Sugözü power plant (Figure 1) in the south of Türkiye near the city of İskenderun in a 51/49 % partnership between Steag Iqony Group and Turkish conglomerate Oyak, which is now the sole owner. The power plant remains in familiar and experienced hands.

“This transaction marks the end of over two decades of highly successful German-Turkish collaboration. We are deeply grateful for Oyak’s partnership and wish Isken and its employees all the best for the future,” says Andreas Reichel, CEO and Labor Director of Steag Iqony Group. “With this extraordinary step, we are once again strengthening our focus on our German core market, aligning our company even more clearly with our strategic priorities. We invest in markets and business areas in which we can grow in the long term and create sustainable added value – as the recent acquisition of Uniper’s district heating business impressively underscores.”

“With the sale, we are also reducing the complexity of our group, significantly improving our risk profile and creating more scope for investments in our core business,” says Nicole Hildebrand, Member of the Management Board and COO of the Steag Iqony Group.

By divesting from the coal-fired power plant, the Steag Iqony Group significantly improves its carbon footprint – a milestone on the road to climate neutrality by 2040, as Hildebrand emphasizes: “The goal of decarbonization is an important part of our corporate strategy. Sustainable growth and climate protection are not opposites for us – they are the basis of our actions. In this way, we are actively shaping the energy transition.” (Steag Iqony/Si.)

The path to a climate-neutral heating supply in Constance/Germany is picking up speed: The municipal council has given the green light for the establishment of a joint project company between Stadtwerke Konstanz, Constance, and Iqony Energies GmbH, Saarbrücken/Germany. The company, which is part of the Steag Iqony Group, Essen/Germany, works with local authorities and municipal utilities to implement and operate sustainable heating networks (Figure 1) – currently at 25 locations across Germany, with more in the pipeline.

The new company, named “Wärmeversorgung Bodensee-Therme GmbH”, is to implement the first heating network in the city of Constance in the area around the Bodensee-Therme – almost entirely based on renewable environmental heat from Lake Constance, supported by modern large heat pumps. “Together with Stadtwerke Konstanz, we will ensure that the transformation to renewable heat supply is as efficient as possible,” says Andreas Loh, Managing Director of Iqony Energies. “In the coming years, the transition to a climate-neutral heat supply will be one of the biggest challenges for local authorities in terms of planning, but also financially – we are a reliable partner for new district heating projects throughout Germany. ”

The project planned in Constance is a central component of local municipal heating planning. “In Iqony Energies, we have gained an experienced partner who will support us not only professionally but also strategically in the implementation of this forward-looking project,” emphasizes Stadtwerke Managing Director Gordon Appel. Around 80 % of the heat requirement in the planned supply area is accounted for by the Bodensee-Therme, the Kliniken Schmieder and the KWA Parkstift Rosenau. A total of around 14 GWh of heat is to be provided in a climate-friendly manner – enough to meet the heating requirements for space heating and hot water of around 1,000 apartments or single-family homes with a living space of 100 m². An EU and BMWK-funded feasibility study confirmed the viability of the project in 2024 and the project company is equally owned by Stadtwerke Konstanz and Iqony Energies.

Subject to the further course of the project, construction of the heating network is scheduled to begin in 2028. The company is to be formally established by the end of 2025. (Iqony/Si.)

Christoph Dollhausen, previously head of communications at the STEAG subsidiary Iqony, took over as head of communications for the energy group STEAG, Essen/Germany, on 1st October 2024 (Figure 1). In his new position, he will be responsible for the newly created division for communication and marketing, which includes both internal and external communication as well as stakeholder management. His team will comprise a total of ten employees. Dollhausen will succeed Markus Hennes, who, after more than seven years as STEAG’s Group Spokesman, is now looking forward to a well-deserved retirement.

Dollhausen has been working for STEAG since 2015. As Head of Marketing, he was responsible for the development and launch of the Iqony brand in 2022 for the green growth sector with a focus on energy from renewable sources. He also managed internal and external communications in connection with the takeover by the Spanish infrastructure investor Asterion.

“I am very much looking forward to working with my team to further enhance the perception of STEAG and Iqony as key players in the German and European energy industry,” says Dollhausen. “One of our most important goals is to communicate the transformation of our company in a comprehensible way, highlighting our contribution to the success of the energy transition and security of supply, while at the same time strengthening the trust of all stakeholders.”

Andreas Reichel, Chairman of the Board of Management and Labor Director of STEAG and Iqony, says: “In an industry which is undergoing change like no other, communication is one of the most important tasks. I am pleased that in Christoph Dollhausen we have found someone for this responsible position who is familiar with the challenges of the energy business and has already actively shaped the development of our company for almost ten years.”

At the same time, he thanked Hennes for his work: “Markus Hennes has been responsible for STEAG’s communications at a time that has been characterized by major, far-reaching changes for the company itself, as well as for the industry as a whole. He deserves our thanks for keeping STEAG on course in terms of communications under challenging circumstances such as the coal phase-out, to name but one example.”

STEAG has strategically realigned itself in recent years by focusing on renewables. The group employs around 5,300 people worldwide, with some 2,600 working at Iqony. (STEAG/Si.)

On 20th September 2024, the members of the STEAG Group’s works councils met at the former Zollverein colliery in Essen/Germany. In addition to Gerhard Grabmeier, Chairman of the General Works Council, and the directors Andreas Reichel and Ralf Schiele, the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Economic Affairs and Deputy Minister-President, Mona Neubaur, delivered a speech as a guest of honor (Figure 1).

The venue for the conference, the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex, was a clever choice, as it was symbolic of the event: on the surface, Zollverein represents the Ruhr area’s mining and industrial past, but it has since become a symbol of the region’s successful structural transformation. Likewise, the STEAG Group, Essen, has successfully broken new ground and implemented its own transformation after its strategic realignment at the beginning of 2023.

In his report, Reichel, CEO and Labor Director of STEAG and Iqony, outlined the topics and projects on which the group will focus in the future in order to successfully position the company and the Group as a whole in the long term: “We want to grow in the field of renewables by investing in our own generation capacities. We want to invest in battery electricity storage systems that make an important contribution to the success of the energy transition by improving the integration of energy from renewable sources in the grid and the market. We want to produce green hydrogen in the Ruhr and Saar regions, which will help regional industry to make its own processes and products climate-neutral. And we want to invest in new and, thanks to hydrogen, potentially climate-neutral gas-fired power plants that will enable us to ensure a secure and zero-emission energy supply in the future.”

The change of ownership at the turn of the year 2024 is also responsible for the STEAG Group’s opportunity to properly tackle these issues through its subsidiary Iqony. “While our previous owners lacked the financial strength to develop the company strategically and in a value-enhancing manner, the framework conditions have improved significantly under the new ownership of the Spanish infrastructure investor Asterion Industrial Partners,” said Grabmeier in his introduction.

In her speech to around 120 employee representatives, Economics Minister Neubaur also addressed these future prospects. With a view to forward-looking projects, the minister emphasized STEAG’s outstanding importance for a successful energy and heating transition, particularly in North Rhine-Westphalia: “North Rhine-Westphalia has the ambition and the ability to become the first climate-neutral industrial region in Europe. This can only be achieved on the basis of a climate-neutral and competitive energy system. That is why we are focusing on hydrogen and doing everything we can to create the best possible conditions to make the development of the hydrogen economy in the Rhine and Ruhr regions a success. The projects that Iqony is preparing, particularly in the Ruhr area, are important building blocks in this process.”

In fact, there is a great deal of overlap between the recently presented energy and heating strategy of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the projects currently being undertaken by STEAG and Iqony: “In addition to the hydrogen and power plant topics, this applies in particular to district heating, where we are already working intensively in the Ruhr and Saar regions to make our heating climate-neutral. As a company, we want to become climate-neutral earlier than the targets set by the German government and the EU, i.e. by 2040,” says Reichel.

One possible contribution to achieving this goal while at the same time ensuring security of supply could be to convert STEAG’s last coal-fired power plant operating under market conditions. “The recently launched consultation procedure on the German government’s planned Power Plant Security Act (KWSG) has opened the debate on which power plants are suitable for such a fuel switch. Converting our Duisburg power plant Walsum 10 to natural gas and, in the future, hydrogen would be considerably cheaper than building completely new plants and would also contribute to the goal of an early phase-out of coal,” Reichel explains.

Schiele, COO of STEAG and also CEO and COO of Iqony, also reported on a number of other projects that similarly correspond to the strategic focus of the state government. “We are investing in particular in the expansion of district heating and are consistently working on a decarbonized heat supply, e. g. with the district heating storage facility currently under construction in Gelsenkirchen. This also applies to the Saarland, where pioneering projects are currently being implemented in Völklingen-Fenne, Homburg and Camp­hausen.”

The in-house projects are complemented by several major collaborations with municipal partners who draw on Iqony’s expertise to implement their strategies and achieve climate targets: “This involves supporting the heating transition in several municipalities across Germany. Contracts to this effect have already been signed with Enwor, a local utility in Herzogenrath, North Rhine-Westphalia. We are in advanced talks with other municipal utilities,” says Schiele. In this respect, Iqony is in many ways an important enabler of the energy and heating transition in Germany.

Speaking for the employee representatives, Grabmeier made it clear that they fundamentally support the course the company has embarked on. “We also believe that the strategic goals have been set correctly. They open up prospects for the future and thus for job security for our colleagues. In this respect, we will gladly support the company on its further journey, but of course we will be particularly involved where this is necessary, given our role as representatives of the employees’ interests.” (STEAG/Si.)

The STEAG Group, Essen/Germany, presented its Sustainability Report for 2023. In it, the company gives an account of its activities in the areas of climate and environmental protection, social and societal responsibility, good corporate governance and an appreciative corporate culture. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as developed by the United Nations in 2015, form the frame of reference for the sustainability report. They reflect the STEAG Group’s activities in the three fields of action “Environmental”, “Social” and “Governance”.

Measured against these, the STEAG Group’s activities contribute in particular to achieving SDG 3 (“Good health and well-being”), SDG 7 (“Affordable and clean energy”), SDG 8 (“Decent work and economic growth”), SDG 9 (“Industry, innovation and infrastructure”), SDG 11 (“Sustainable cities and communities”), SDG 12 (“Responsible consumption and production”), SDG 13 (“Climate action”) and SDG 15 (“Life on land”).

Specifically, this involves measures to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for all employees, respect for employee and human rights across the entire supply chain, measures to ensure security of supply, investments in renewable energy (Figure 1), support for the decarbonization efforts of third parties, whether they be industrial companies or local authorities, promotion of the heat transition, particularly in cooperation with municipal partners, development and implementation of a climate neutrality pathway for the STEAG Group itself and the ongoing mitigation of unavoidable environmental impacts.

With a view to the core energy business, Andreas Reichel, CEO and Labor Director of STEAG and Iqony, summarizes the Group’s position as follows: “We see ourselves as facilitators of a successful energy and heat transition while at the same time maintaining a secure energy supply – symbolized by the planned gas-fired power plants with hydrogen capability at our existing power plant sites in the Ruhr and Saar regions. In future, they will always be available when the yield from wind and solar energy is not sufficient to guarantee our electricity supply.” Particularly in view of the coal phase-out that has been enshrined in law since 2020, it should be borne in mind that this can only be achieved with security of supply if these new plants are actually built.

In this respect, STEAG has once again reaffirmed the company’s existing climate protection targets in the Sustainability Report for 2023 that has now been published: In addition to the STEAG Group’s goal of complete climate neutrality by 2040 at the latest, these include above all STEAG’s planned phase-out of coal-fired power generation in Germany before the end of this decade.

“In this context, we also have to talk about the system relevance of currently five STEAG power plant units. These continue to serve to stabilize the grid and system and we are required to keep the plants in permanent operational readiness until further notice,” says Reichel. “Even if these plants no longer actively participate in the electricity market, we cannot speak of an actual coal phase-out in the absence of a firm and binding date for final decommissioning.”

However, there is only a prospect of security of supply in the future, success in climate protection and reliable career prospects for STEAG and Iqony employees if the power plant and hydrogen projects currently planned by STEAG and Iqony are given a chance to be implemented.

“Without domestic hydrogen production, there will be no reliable decarbonization of domestic industry and no security in terms of employment prospects. And without new and climate-neutral gas-fired power plants in the future, there will be no long-term security of supply in Germany, but rather rising energy prices and a further loss of international competitiveness for our economy,” Reichel continued.

STEAG is ready to tackle the planned future projects in the industrial regions of the Ruhr and Saar if the regulatory framework conditions are right. In addition, however, it also needs sufficiently motivated and qualified personnel to achieve its ambitious goals: “STEAG is recognized as an employer that cares intensively about the interests and well-being of its employees. In times of an increasing shortage of skilled workers, this issue has become even more important,” emphasizes Reichel in his role as Labor Director.

Consequently, STEAG has again made numerous offers of preventive health care and personal and professional development in 2023 and intensified the recruitment of young skilled workers. “At STEAG, our qualified employees have always been the company’s most important asset. It is therefore a matter of course for us to invest in the health and therefore also the continued working capacity of our team,” Reichel adds. (STEAG/Si.)

Iqony, the growth division of STEAG Group, Essen/Germany, which specializes in renewable energies, hydrogen projects, decarbonization solutions and the construction of new and hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants, is planning to build an electrolyzer for the production of green, climate-neutral hydrogen at the long-established power plant site in Völklingen-Fenne. The project was classified as an “Important Project of Common European Interest” (IPCEI) by the EU Commission at the beginning of the year and has now been officially awarded national funding by Federal Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck (Figure 1).

With the IPCEI classification by the European Commission, the German government and the Saarland state government, which is also financially involved, were authorized under European state aid law to spend money from their budgets on project funding. With the acceptance of the funding decision by Andreas Reichel, CEO and Labor Director of STEAG and Iqony, the project has reached another important milestone on the way to its implementation. If everything develops as planned, the first hydrogen will be produced in Fenne in 2028.

“With the issue of the funding notification, we are a big step closer to our goal of producing green hydrogen in Völklingen-Fenne and supporting the decarbonization of industry and businesses in Saarland,” Reichel explains. However, receipt of the funding approval is not yet synonymous with a final investment decision.

“The fact that we now have clarity about possible investment funding puts us in a position to hold in-depth talks with potential customers and participate in corresponding tenders for hydrogen supply,” Reichel continued. If talks and tenders are successful, a firm investment decision could be made by the beginning of 2025.

Nevertheless, the interim goal that has now been achieved provides strength and confidence for the next steps on the way to implementing the project. In this respect, the company views the coming weeks and months with confidence: “The basic IPCEI notification by the EU Commission in February has already given the project a noticeable boost. We are now working intensively on creating all the other prerequisites for a final investment decision,” says Anke Langner, Managing Director of Saarbrücken-based Iqony Energies GmbH, which is responsible for the project within the Iqony group of companies. Iqony is the vehicle within the long-established STEAG Group for all future and growth topics in the energy industry.

With the “HydroHub Fenne” project, Iqony and the STEAG Group as a whole are also opening a groundbreaking new chapter in the history of the traditional power plant site in Völklingen. “The fact that the future prospects of the Fenne site beyond hard coal are becoming more concrete with the HydroHub in the very year of the site’s 100th anniversary is a good and important signal for the company, for the region and for the employees,” says Ralf Schiele, COO of STEAG and CEO and COO of Iqony.

In this context, the company would like to thank not only the representatives of the federal German government, but in particular the Saarland state government, which has not only positively accompanied and politically supported the project since the initial planning stages, but has also contributed to the investment funding from its own resources. “The support that our project has received as part of the commitment by, in particular, Minister President Anke Rehlinger and Economics Minister Jürgen Barke to a successful ramp-up of the hydrogen economy in the Saar region was and still is exemplary. I would like to express my gratitude for this on behalf of our employees,” says Reichel.

The state government is also satisfied: “Today is a good day for our region. We have taken an enormous step towards our goal of producing large quantities of climate-neutral hydrogen in Saarland and then transporting it to customers. The substantial contribution that the federal and state governments are making to the project is crucial for the establishment of a comprehensive hydrogen economy. We recognized the importance of hydrogen as a technological bridge to an economically successful and sustainable future for Saarland at an early stage and have campaigned intensively in Berlin and Brussels for all IPCEI projects. I am delighted that Saarland can now make important contributions to the development of hydrogen technologies,” says Saarland Economics Minister Jürgen Barke. (Iqony/Si.)

Iqony GmbH, Essen/Germany, the green growth division of the Essen-based STEAG Group, is merging its solar and wind business into a joint business unit. The subsidiary, under whose umbrella both business areas will be bundled in future, has been operating as Iqony Sustainable Energy Solutions GmbH (Iqony Sens) since 30th May 2024 (Figure 1).

“The integration of the two previous business units into a single, even more efficient and powerful unit is a decisive step for us on our way from project developer to one of the leading European producers of renewable energy,” explains Andreas Reichel, CEO and Labour Director of STEAG and Iqony. Under the leadership of the two Managing Directors André Kremer and Joël Wagner, Iqony Sens will realise synergies along the entire value chain of onshore wind and large-scale photovoltaic (PV).

The business of the new business unit is based on two pillars: Project development and management are bundled in the IPP (Independent Power Producer) division. The electricity, which will be increasingly self-generated in future, will then be marketed via the Group’s own Iqony trading division. The EPC and O&M (Engineering, Procurement, Construction plus Operations & Maintenance) division comprises the construction and maintenance of plants in the wind and PV sectors.

“So far, we have been a valued partner primarily for the development, EPC and O&M services of individual PV systems,” says Kremer. “In future, we will dovetail our many years of experience in the solar industry more closely with Iqony’s wind expertise and keep it within the company for the long term in the IPP sector.”

“As an Independent Power Producer, we will not only be able to provide significantly more base load-capable electricity, we are also focusing on a future in which renewable energy sources play the leading role in the global energy market,” adds Wagner.

With the integration of the two areas of solar and wind, Iqony Sens will assume the role of an integrated plant operator and energy producer in addition to its strong position as a project developer and service provider. To date, the company’s own wind and solar parks have an installed capacity of around 250 MW. Iqony is aiming to quadruple this portfolio by the end of the decade.

Iqony e. g. was recently awarded the contract for the planned Mosbach wind farm with an installed capacity of around 61 MW in the Neckar-Odenwald district of Baden-Württemberg. Iqony’s many years of experience in working closely with municipal partners and the local population to realise wind farms, as well as its attractive participation options for landowners, were convincing.

In the PV sector, the realisation of an EPC project in Wensicken­dorf recently began. This will create a PV park with an installed capacity of over 32 MWp. The expected annual generation of over 33,000 MWh will ensure structural savings of an estimated 5,500 t of CO₂e/a.

Last year, the Spanish infrastructure investor Asterion took over Iqony’s parent company STEAG. “This will enable us to accelerate the transformation of our company and invest even more heavily in our own projects in future,” says Reichel. Against this background, the integration of the wind and PV competences is a further significant milestone in the strategic realignment of the STEAG Group as a whole. (Iqony/Si.)

In 2022, STEAG GmbH, Essen/Germany, brought around 2.5 GW of additional power plant capacity back onto the market. Of all the power plant operators, this was the biggest contribution to ensuring security of supply in Germany during the recent energy crisis. These plants are now being withdrawn from the market, but are to remain in the grid reserve.

When the supply situation in Germany and Europe was significantly tense in autumn and winter 2022 due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, STEAG did not hesitate for long: in Saarland the Weiher (656 MW) and Bexbach (726 MW) power plants, the MKV (179 MW) and HKV (211 MW) units in Völklingen-Fenne and the Bergkamen power plant (717 MW) in the Ruhr region were made fit for market operation in a very short time and in a real tour de force by the workforce. All of this was done not least at the express request of the German government. “Since then, our hard coal-fired power plants have made an important contribution to ensuring security of supply,” emphasises Andreas Reichel, Chairman of the STEAG Management Board and Labour Director. “We can be proud of what we have achieved.” The Substitute Power Plant Provision Act (EKBG), which enabled the reserve power plants to return to the market for a limited period, is expiring, meaning that the five power generation plants provided by STEAG 18 months ago, with a total of 2.5 GW of power plant capacity, will be withdrawn from market operation again on 1st April 2024.

However, they will continue to make a significant contribution as part of the grid reserve: In March 2024, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) decided that the five STEAG Power power plant units in question are system-relevant. This means that STEAG, as the owner, is not allowed to switch off these plants, but must keep them permanently operational. In the opinion of the BNetzA, the four units in Saarland and the power plant in the Ruhr region are essential for grid stability.

Should it be necessary in the future, the transmission system operator Amprion could request these power plants with a short lead time to stabilise the electricity grids. “From now on, we will be working on the instructions of the grid operator,” Reichel continues. “This is good for security of supply in Germany. However, this model is not economically viable under the current rules.”

This is particularly evident in the case of the Weiher and Bexbach power plants in Saarland. The BNetzA first categorised these plants as system-relevant in April 2017. They then remained in the grid reserve until the end of October 2022 before they were allowed to temporarily return to market operation following the adoption of the EKBG. The BNetzA has now categorised both plants as systemically relevant once again – until the end of March 2031. “If this decision is upheld, we are talking about a system relevance of almost 13 years in the case of Bexbach and Weiher,” says Reichel. “The grid reserve is not intended for such a long period.” Strictly speaking, STEAG would be deprived of its ownership rights to the power plants for more than a decade. STEAG has therefore lodged an appeal against the BNetzA’s designation decision.

At the same time, the German government expects power plant operators to make considerable investments in the construction of new climate-neutral gas-fired power plants by 2030, which STEAG is also keen to do. Reichel is therefore calling for a new remuneration model (Figure 1). “With the current pure cost reimbursement for power plants in the grid reserve, we are a long way from appropriate remuneration for entrepreneurial activity. We must be able to earn money with the plants. Because only companies that generate profits are in a position to invest.”

For years, the STEAG Group has been making a significant contribution to a secure supply of electricity and heat in Germany. This should continue in the future: STEAG is therefore suggesting that the bridging function of the existing coal-fired power plants should be honoured. “With our young subsidiary Iqony, we are actively shaping the energy supply of tomorrow. In addition to the expansion in district heating supply, this also includes the construction of new hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants. Our power plant sites offer ideal conditions for these energy transition projects thanks to the existing infrastructure and highly qualified power plant teams,” summarises Reichel. (STEAG/Si.)

Hard coal-fired power generation has been a tradition in Herne/Germany since the 1960s. Back then, the first power plant unit, Herne 1, went into operation. STEAG GmbH, Essen/Germany, continued this tradition with the commissioning of unit Herne 4 in 1989 – and continues to do so today. The plant, with a net generation capacity of 460 MW, can supply more than 1.1 M four-person households with electricity around the clock for a whole year. The combined heat and power plant, which operates on the principle of cogeneration, is also an important source of heat for the Ruhr district heating network. “Herne 4 has always served us very well. My special thanks go to the power plant team on site, who have made a safe and reliable contribution to the security of supply in the region for 35 years,” says Andreas Reichel, Chairman of the Board of Management and Labour Director of the STEAG Board of Management.

As part of the company’s own transformation, the STEAG Group is aiming for climate neutrality by 2040. Due in particular to the sharp drop in electricity prices, which have fallen by around 40 % compared to October 2023, STEAG is now applying to decommission the Herne 4 power plant by March 2025 (Figure 1).

“Of course, this is not an easy step for us. But it is necessary in order to preserve the regained economic strength of the company as a whole,” adds Reichel. The decommissioning of Herne 4 was originally planned for spring 2022. Due to the changed situation on the electricity and gas market following the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, STEAG postponed the decommissioning at the time, thereby contributing to greater security of supply, particularly in the critical winter of 2022/23.

With the neighbouring Herne 6 combined cycle gas turbine power plant (CCGT), which STEAG subsidiary Iqony commissioned at the same site in autumn 2022, the supply of electricity and district heating will also be secured in the future. In future, the waste heat from industrial companies in the region will also be used as an additional heat source for a green district heating supply in the Ruhr region.

This means that little will change for the employees on site for the time being. “In addition, the new Herne 6 CCGT at the Herne site offers good employment opportunities for our highly qualified and motivated power plant team,” emphasises Reichel. Herne will remain an important energy location in the Ruhr region in the future. (STEAG/Si.)

At the full works council and delegates’ conference of the STEAG Group (Figure 1), Essen/Germany, Andreas Reichel, Chairman of the Management Board and Labor Director, made it clear that the forthcoming sale of the energy group to the Spanish infrastructure investor Asterion Industrial Partners means more scope for STEAG in shaping the energy and heat transition.

Speaking to the participants at the full works council and delegates’ conference at the Zollverein industrial heritage site in Essen, Reichel explained the future direction of the energy group: “The sale of STEAG GmbH together with its two subsidiaries Iqony and STEAG Power to Asterion, which is expected to be finally closed in December 2023, is a very good signal for the around 5,300 employees and for the energy sector in Germany as a whole. Together with our future owner, we now have the potential to invest significantly in expanding our holistic solutions for decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization of the energy supply.”

At the end of August 2023, Asterion had announced its intention to invest around 1 bn € in the STEAG Group’s green growth business, which is bundled under the umbrella of the new subsidiary Iqony, once the takeover has been completed. “Our lighthouse projects include, e. g., the “HydrOxy Hub” project at the Duisburg-Walsum power plant site, where we intend to produce large quantities of green hydrogen in an electrolyzer with a capacity of up to 520 MW,” says Reichel.

Likewise, projects for the construction of several new gas-fired power plants with hydrogen capability are among the future investment priorities. “For that, however, we will need an appropriate political framework, faster approval procedures and firm legislation as rapidly as possible,” Reichel appealed. This applies all the more, he said, as the German government itself has set a target of building new gas-fired power plants with a generation capacity of up to 25 GW by 2030. “If we want to achieve this in that short time, we must have clarity quickly,” Reichel added.

Gerhard Grabmeier, Chairman of STEAG’s General Works Council, made it clear in his speech that a new growth phase would begin for STEAG with Asterion as the owner: “Asterion wants to invest more in the green technologies of the future. This will ensure good and reliable employment prospects in the company and increase the attractiveness of the Group as an employer. The team at Iqony has what it takes to play a key role in shaping the energy transition in Germany and Europe.”

In addition to growth in sustainable future fields, STEAG also stands for security of supply as provided by the large power plants of the Group subsidiary STEAG Power. “The past winter in particular, when no more Russian gas flowed through the pipelines to Western Europe, has shown that you can rely on the people at STEAG!” commends Michael Vassiliadis, Chairman of the Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union (IGBCE) and member of the Supervisory Board of STEAG.

STEAG Power returned 2.5 GW of generation capacity to the market in November 2023, making a decisive contribution to significantly reducing natural gas consumption in power generation. “What is needed now for the future is reliability from politicians. We need more planning certainty and a reliable power plant strategy from the German government. There needs to be security for the electricity market and a new market design in which power plant operators also receive money for keeping power generation capacities permanently available – even when they are not currently connected to the grid,” Vassiliadis demands. However, STEAG remains committed to its goal of phasing out coal-fired power generation in Germany by mid-2026. (STEAG/Si.)